Power supply noise reduction in 90 nm using active decap

On-chip supply voltage fluctuations are known to adversely affect performance parameters of VLSI circuits. These power supply fluctuations reduce drive capability, causes reliability issues, decrease noise margin and also adversely affect timing. Technology scaling further aggravates the problem as IR and Ldi/dt noise sources increase with each device generation. Current method used to reduce power supply variations uses an on-chip decoupling capacitors (decaps). These MOS capacitors utilize significant die area with about 15%-20% common for high-end microprocessors [4]. They also consume a considerable amount of power due to leakage and are prone to oxide breakdown during an ESD event because of reduced oxide thickness, making MOS capacitors unsuitable for technologies 90 nm and below. To improve the effectiveness of decap and reduce decap’s area, a new active decap design is proposed for 90 nm technology

Vapor-Liquid-Solid Growth of Semiconductor SiC Nanowires for Electronics applications

While investigations of semiconductor nanowires (NWs) has a long history, a significant progress is yet to be made in silicon carbide (SiC) NW technologies before they are ready to be utilized in electronic applications. In this dissertation work, SiC NW polytype control, NW axis orientation with respect to the growth substrate and other issues of potential technological importance are investigated. A new method for growing SiC NWs by vapor-liquid-solid mechanism was developed. The method is based on an in-situ vapor phase delivery of a metal catalyst to the growth surface during chemical vapor deposition. This approach is an alternative to the existing seeded catalyst method based on ex-situ catalyst deposition on the target substrate. The new SiC NW growth method provided an improved control of the NW density. It was established that the NW density is influenced by the distance from the catalyst source to the substrate and is affected by both the gas flow rate and the catalyst diffusion in the gas phase. An important convenience of the new method is that it yields NW growth on the horizontal substrate surfaces as well as on titled and vertical sidewalls of 4H-SiC mesas. This feature facilitates investigation of the NW growth trends on SiC substrate surfaces having different crystallographic orientations simultaneously, which is very promising for future NW device applications. It was established that only certain orientations of the NW axes were allowed when growing on a SiC substrate. The allowed orientations of NWs of a particular polytype were determined by the crystallographic orientation of the substrate. This substrate-dependent (i.e., epitaxial) growth resulted in growth of 3C-SiC NWs in total six allowed crystallographic orientations with respect to the 4H-SiC substrate. This NW axis alignment offers an opportunity to achieve a limited number of NW axis directions depending on the surface orientation of the substrate. The ease of controlling the NW density enabled by the vapor-phase catalyst delivery approach developed in this work, combined with the newly obtained knowledge about how to grow unidirectional (wellaligned) NW arrays, offer new opportunities for developing novel SiC NW electronic and photonic devices

Mg/Ca Ratios in Synthetic Low-Magnesium Calcite: An Experimental Investigation

The work presented sought to determine the effects of Mg/Ca ratios in solution have on Mg partitioning (KMg) between precipitated abiotic low-Mg calcite and solution. Experiments were set up so that Mg/Ca in precipitated abiotic calcite would match the Mg/Ca in planktonic foraminifera. This research intended to investigate the effect of Mg/Ca(Fluid) on KMg when the molar value of Mg/Ca(Fluid) was below 0.5, which is below the previously reported Mg/Ca range. The values of pH, salinity, and aqueous Mg/Ca were monitored during calcite precipitation, and Mg/Ca of calcite was determined at the end of experiments. Partition coefficients of Mg were evaluated as a ratio of Mg/Ca in calcite to the averaged ratio of aqueous Mg/Ca for each experiment

Mg/Ca Ratios in Synthetic Low-Magnesium Calcite: An Experimental Investigation

The work presented sought to determine the effects of Mg/Ca ratios in solution have on Mg partitioning (KMg) between precipitated abiotic low-Mg calcite and solution. Experiments were set up so that Mg/Ca in precipitated abiotic calcite would match the Mg/Ca in planktonic foraminifera. This research intended to investigate the effect of Mg/Ca(Fluid) on KMg when the molar value of Mg/Ca(Fluid) was below 0.5, which is below the previously reported Mg/Ca range. The values of pH, salinity, and aqueous Mg/Ca were monitored during calcite precipitation, and Mg/Ca of calcite was determined at the end of experiments. Partition coefficients of Mg were evaluated as a ratio of Mg/Ca in calcite to the averaged ratio of aqueous Mg/Ca for each experiment